NBAA Vol. 7 Chapter 4 Part 3
“This might be the best place to keep a carcass. The Deodorizing Stones in the sewers would absorb all the decomposing odors from the carcasses, and they wouldn’t have to worry about being seen.”
“Oh my God… isn’t that a crime?”
Gonzo muttered, and Dain shouted angrily.
“Of course it is! You can’t just leave the carcass of a monster there; it could cause disease! Besides, monsters that eat the carcasses of other monsters are more likely to mutate into subspecies, and we already have enough problems!”
“Is that so…?”
After hearing Dain’s words, Gonzo also showed an angry expression.
Reito sighed at the actions of the Battle Association. He needed to bring back evidence to report to the Adventurers’ Guild about what he had investigated here.
“Let’s go to the guild first and tell them what we’ve found out. Do you have anything that can be used as evidence?”
“Hmm… If I show the scene from earlier to the guild staff or guards, they might believe us, but I don’t see anything that could be used as evidence… I wonder if they’ll believe us even if I bring back the carcass…”
“If we don’t have solid evidence, the guild might not be able to deal with this issue.”
The Battle Association was a large organization and had a lot of influence in Adventure City. If they did not bring back solid evidence, there was a possibility that even if they made an accusation, the Battle Association would put pressure on the guild to suppress it.
Fortunately, the Battle Association was unaware that their actions were known to others. Nevertheless, the problem could not be solved until they had proof.
“What should we do? Should we catch the man from earlier and force him to confess?”
When Gonzo said this, Reito nodded in agreement.
“That’s the best thing to do. We may have no choice but to take the carcass with the person from earlier and present them to the guild.”
“As long as Gon-chan and I are here, it’ll be okay.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Oh, that’s great. I wonder if we can manage if there are two of us…”
Dain looked somewhat relieved at Reito and Gonzo’s reassuring words.
Reito used “Space Magic” to retrieve some of the monster carcasses, and started to track the necromancer that Hanzo was following.
While trotting along, Dain spotted an object lying on the road.
“Ah, look at this!! It must be a marker left by Hanzo!!”
“Isn’t that a Kunai*? She also left behind clues that are typical of a ninja…” (TLN: A weapon commonly used by shinobi/ninja. Those who watch Naruto will know.)
“Oh, so these are the weapons of the Wakoku, huh?”
Reito and the others proceeded, relying on the kunais stuck in the walls and the floor.
Finally, there was a reaction to Reito’s “Detect Presence”.
He stopped and looked at the passageway. In front of him, there was a passageway that split into two, and on the right side, there was a reaction that seemed to be Hanzo and the necromancer.
“My ‘Detect Presence’ has four reactions in the passage on the right… Huh?”
“What’s up?”
“No, there was some kind of strong reaction on the other side as well…”
“It’s just a monster, right? Come on, let’s go quickly.”
“Ah, yeah…”
Reito was suspicious of the presence in the left passage, but Dain urged him to go through the right passage.
It seemed to be the right way and they found a kunai left by Hanzo on the wall.
And soon, they spotted Hanzo as well. She stopped in front of a door at the end of the passageway.
She saw Reito and the others and waved.
“Oh, you have come at last, that you have. The man and the monsters went into this door, that they did.”
“Hey, don’t shout!”
Dain interrupted. Hanzo’s voice was too loud, which made it hard to believe that she was following someone.
“I’m fine, that I am. At least, my ‘Detect Presence’ is not reacting to anything on the other side of the door.”
According to Hanzo, the young man and the Dead Soul Puppets from earlier had entered a large door that even a Giant could fit through. However, she could not open the door because it was locked at that time. Hanzo possessed a skill called “Unlocking,” but there was no keyhole in the door. She said that the door was probably barred at the back.
“So, Reito-dono, did you found out anything, that you have?”
“Actually, when I investigated the carcass earlier… it was like blah blah blah… (explanation of the situation)”
“I-I see…I feel like I was given a very rough explanation, but for some reason I was able to understand completely, that I did. Is that what you mean?”
After hearing Reito’s guess, she was convinced that there was no doubt about it. However, there was no clear evidence at this stage, and bringing back only the carcass was not enough. The quickest way was still to catch the necromancer and make him confess, but if the necromancer hired by the Battle Association were to be captured and turned over to the guild, it would be a troublesome task.
As Reito wondered what to do next, Hanzo grabbed his arm. When he was forced to move some distance away from Gonzo and Dain, she spoke to Reito in a whisper. It seemed that what she wanted to tell him was something that Gonzo and Dain should not hear.
“…If the culprit of this sewer incident is really the Battle Association, the guilds will definitely report it to the kingdom. If so, it would be a big problem, that it would be. If it is not handled properly, the Battle Festival will be canceled, and the Battle Association will be held responsible for it.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“No, it is not a problem, that it is not. The news about the arena has already spread not only within the kingdom, but also to other countries. In fact, the royal family of the Elves has been staying in this city for a month before the Battle Festival is held, right? If the Battle Festival were to be canceled, all kinds of problems would arise, that they would.”
“But wouldn’t it be more problematic if we overlooked this problem? If a strange disease were to spread in the sewers, or if the monsters living in the sewers were to eat the carcasses and create powerful ’subspecies’ like Dain said, the city would be in trouble, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s true, that it would, but…”
“Well, how about we alert the Battle Association before reporting it to the guild? We just need to make sure the Battle Association doesn’t leave the undead and monster carcasses in the sewers.”
“I hope that works, that it will.”
It was true that the Battle Association had been involved in some wrongdoing, and if this became public knowledge, it was possible that the Battle Festival might be canceled. If that happened, many people would be disappointed, and the relationship between the Battle Association and the guild would deteriorate.
However, Reito couldn’t ignore the problem, so he decided to try to solve it through discussion.
“Well, let’s at least get the evidence first. If we don’t get some strong clues, the Battle Association will play dumb.”
“It can’t be helped…It’s certainly as Reito-dono says, that it can.”
“Hey, what were you two talking about?”
“What are you talking about?”
Gonzo and Dain approached, suspecting that Reito and Hanzo were having a long private conversation.
Reito decided that there was no need to hide anything from them and tried to discuss the matter with Dain and Gonzo.
But at that moment, a noise and people’s voices suddenly echoed from the door.
“Shit, it’s our turn now.”
“Hurry up! We have to get rid of them before the adventurers find them…”
“Damn it…that old bastard, how dare you even think of releasing undead into the sewers just because you got fired!! Now we’re the ones who have to get rid of them!!”
There seemed to be several men behind the door.
Reito and the others rushed to find a place to hide, but before they could move, the sound of a latch being pulled out rang out, and the door was pushed open from the inside.